Tag Archives: neurotransmitters

If you have ever had a migraine headache or even a bad tension headache, good news is here! Acupuncture can help! Migraines affect over 29 million Americans and are more common in women. Many regular tension type headaches can progress to the more severe migraine type. Many migraines will slowly stop responding to medications because many migraine meds can reduce the neurotransmitters in the body, over time. Acupuncture is effective in treating migraines and regular headaches and does not have the unwanted side effects. Always try to find any triggers for your migraines and avoid them. I have used acupuncture in my practice for 20 years and I can proudly say that it is a safe, effective and relatively cost effective way to reduce the frequency and severity of migraines!

Many of my patients have issues related to anxiety or depression due to pain or from relative nutritional deficiencies. Neurotransmitters, (serotonin, dopamine, epinephrine and nor-epinephrine) are almost always a problem with these disorders, as well as fibromyalgia, migraine headaches and a host of other chronic disease states. Amino acids in specific dosages and blends can improve the nutritional state of these individuals and improve their health and function because they are the building blocks for the neurotransmitters. Medications can deplete they very neurotransmitters that are needed for the health of the person using them. Do not try to balance neurotransmitter issues on your own because using one amino acid by itself will deplete a different amino acid, thus creating a worse nutritional state and prolonging the disease state. I have helped many patients with their nutritional issues, and utilizing amino acids properly, works wonders for so many patients!

The world of treating nutritional deficiencies in people with disease processes has boomed over the last 6-7 years. Along with recent and significant advances in the study of the neurotransmitters importance to everyday health, comes the use of amino acid therapy to enhance and balance the neurotransmitter levels within our body. Deficiency or imbalances of neurotransmitters are directly linked to many disease processes. I have been very fortunate to have been educated and trained in the use of amino acid supplements for patients with nutritional deficiency.

I have been using amino acid supplementation for approximately 10 years with patients with a variety of nutritional and neurotransmitter imbalances contributing to illness. My training has been under the tutelage of Dr. Marty Hinz of the NeuroResearch clinic. He is one of the foremost researchers for amino acid therapy for nutritional deficiencies that contribute to a great number of illness and disease that we suffer from needlessly.

I have significant experience using them for treatment since 2003. As with advances in medicine and disease, there also come advances in nutrition and disease. Amino acid nutritional supplementation therapy is a fairly new science, relative to treatment of disease, based upon neurotransmitter depletion or dysfunction. Recent discoveries have increased our knowledge of how our natural chemical neurotransmitters work, relative to certain disease processes. This has shed new insight into non-pharmaceutical treatment of the nutritional imbalances with individuals with those diseases. The following is a partial list of diseases that can be directly or secondarily associated with nutritional insufficiency relative to neurotransmitter depletion or deficiency:

Obesity, weight loss and management and appetite suppression

Parkinson’s Disease

Depression/anxiety

ADHD

Migraine headaches

Fibromyalgia

Chronic fatigue, chronic pain syndromes

There are many more associated diseases not listed here

What are Neurotransmitters and Amino Acids?
Neurotransmitters are tiny chemical messengers that allow your nerves to keep the nervous signal traveling and communicate with each other. They are released from the end of one nerve, dumped into the space between the nerves and then move on to attach to a receptor on the next nerve. This works great until there are not enough neurotransmitters to allow for effective communication between nerves. When you do not have enough neurotransmitters in your system, such as reduction or depletion of proper neurotransmitters levels, you can suffer the symptoms of one or more specific disease process. Amino acids are the building blocks of the neurotransmitters. We can only make neurotransmitters if we have the proper nutrients (amino acids) and amounts to do so. There are many neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine, epinephrine and norepinephrine, the more important ones, which are responsible for many body functions including mood, cognition, hunger, sleep as well as a host of others.

What are Amino Acids?
As I stated earlier, amino acids are those protein by-products that help build neurotransmitters in the body. The reason we need amino acids is that the brain cannot generate its own neurotransmitters without them and the central nervous system cannot function without them. Many foods and drugs/medications/pharmaceuticals can actually deplete the neurotransmitters from your body. Drugs do not make neurotransmitters, they only shuffle them around in your body. The fact is, many drugs actually deplete or diminish the number of neurotransmitters in your system thus eventually making you feel worse and contributing to disease symptoms. We all need amino acids.

Information and Misinformation
I have read much about amino acid therapy and neurotransmitters both in medical literature/studies and from websites posted on the internet. There is a growing body of information and misinformation. Here are a few things I have learned:

Amino acid therapy must be balanced and specific in its dosages. Too much of one amino acid can deplete another thus creating as many problems as it is designed to help.

Lab testing for neurotransmitter levels is in its infancy and several labs have developed a urine test. However giving a urine test prior to beginning amino acid therapy is a waste of time and money because there is no correlation between systemic and urinary levels. The reason? The kidneys make their own neurotransmitters.

There is only one lab I know of that is actually calibrated to account for the discrepancies in the kidneys involvement in making neurotransmitters.

All nutritional supplements are not made equally. The purity of the product is important.

When disease is present, supplement dosages should be used to elevate neurotransmitters levels into therapeutic ranges and not necessarily normal values.

Many physicians are jumping on the amino acid treatment bandwagon without proper training in their uses especially for specific disease processes.

Obviously amino acid supplementation is important enough, that I feel it imperative to let patients know that they should have trained professional guidance relative to its usage. One could buy all the products necessary from a health food store however it would be cost prohibitive and there is the possibility of poor quality and improper self dosages. In trained hands amino acid treatment is very safe with relatively few side effects and can even be used with children and adolescents.

For more information to find out if you or a loved one is a candidate for amino acid therapy call our office at 630-351-4700.

I have been very fortunate to have been educated and trained in the use of amino acid supplements for patients. My training has been under the tutelage of Dr. Marty Hinz of the NeuroResearch clinic. He is one of the foremost researchers for amino acid therapy and disease treatment. I have significant experience using amino acids for treatment since 2003. As with advances in medicine and disease, there also come advances in nutrition and disease. Amino acid nutritional therapy is a fairly new science, relative to treatment of disease, based upon neurotransmitter depletion or dysfunction. Recent discoveries have increased our knowledge of how our natural chemical neurotransmitters work, relative to certain disease processes. This has shed new insight into non-pharmaceutical treatment of individuals with those diseases. The following is a partial list of diseases associated with neurotransmitter depletion or deficiency:

Obesity

Parkinson’s Disease

Depression and Anxiety

ADHD

Migraine Headaches

Fibromyalgia

Chronic fatigue, chronic pain syndromes

There are many more associated diseases not listed here

What are Neurotransmitters and Amino Acids?
Neurotransmitters are tiny chemical messengers that allow your nerves to keep the nervous signal traveling and communicate with each other. They are released from the end of one nerve, dumped into the space between the nerves and then move on to attach to a receptor on the next nerve. This works great until there are not enough neurotransmitters to allow for effective communication between nerves. When you do not have enough neurotransmitters in your system, such as reduction or depletion of proper neurotransmitters levels, you can suffer the symptoms of one or more specific disease process. Amino acids are the building blocks of the neurotransmitters. We can only make neurotransmitters if we have the proper nutrients (amino acids) and amounts to do so. There are many neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine, epinephrine and norepinephrine (among a few) which are responsible for many body functions including mood, cognition, hunger, sleep as well as a host of others.

What are Amino Acids
As I stated earlier, amino acids are those protein by-products that help build neurotransmitters in the body. The reason we need amino acids is that the brain cannot generate its own neurotransmitters without them and the central nervous system cannot function without them. Many foods and drugs/medications/pharmaceuticals can actually deplete the neurotransmitters from your body. Drugs do not make neurotransmitters, they only shuffle them around in your body. The fact is, many drugs actually deplete or diminish the number of neurotransmitters in your system thus eventually making you feel worse and contributing to disease symptoms. We all need amino acids.

Information and misinformation
I have read much about amino acid therapy and neurotransmitters both in medical literature/studies and from websites on the internet. There is a growing body of information and misinformation. Here are a few things I have learned:

Amino acid therapy must be balanced and specific in its dosages. Too much of one amino acid can deplete another thus creating as many problems as it is designed to help.

Lab testing for neurotransmitter levels is in its infancy and several labs have developed a urine test. However giving a urine test prior to beginning amino acid therapy is a waste of time and money because there is no correlation between systemic and urinary levels. The reason? The kidneys make their own neurotransmitters.

There is only one lab I know of that is actually calibrated to account for the discrepancies in the kidneys involvement in making neurotransmitters.

All nutritional supplements are not made equally. The purity of the product is important.

When disease is present, supplement dosages should be used to elevate neurotranmitter levels into therapeutic ranges and not necessarily normal values.

Many physicians are jumping on the amino acid treatment bandwagon without proper training in their uses especially for specific disease processes.

Obviously amino acid supplementation is important enough, that I feel it imperative to let patients know that they should have trained professional guidance relative to its usage. One could buy all the products necessary from a health food store however it would be cost prohibitive and there is the possibility of poor quality and improper self dosages. In trained hands amino acid treatment is very safe with relatively few side effects and can even be used with children and adolescents.

For more information to find out if you or a loved one is a candidate for amino acid therapy call our office at (630) 351-4700.

Obesity is an epidemic in the United States and statistics prove it. However, losing weight is a very personal issue. BodyTransition is a physician monitored, high performance, in house, weight loss and management program. I initially developed this program for my patients who cannot seem to lose weight on their own. I use amino acid supplemental therapy to help my patients lose weight safely and effectively. My program was designed from a model based upon Dr. Marty Hinz’s work with amino acid therapy and bariatric patients. Dr. Hinz (founder of NeuroResearch in Duluth, Mn.) is at the forefront of research for amino acid therapy relative to disease. Dr. Hinz is the physician that educated me in the use of amino acids for neurotransmitter dysfunction. I have been utilizing them for various disorders since 2003.

Amino acids in weight loss are designed to suppress the appetite which allows one to reduce caloric intake comfortably. In other words, you can eat less food without feeling hungry. The only way to lose weight is to eat less, exercise more, or both. Many who are obese have neurotransmitter levels that are so low they cannot shut off the sensation of hunger, thus they eat constantly or excessively. Amino acids increase the levels of neurotransmitters into therapeutic ranges so a person is able to actually suppress the pangs of hunger. Serotonin, dopamine, epinephrine, and nor-epinephrine are the major neurotransmitters that we try to modulate. A person could never eat enough food to increase the neurotransmitters to required levels in the body, that is why it is important to supplement them.

My program is simple, when you come in for your first visit, together we determine how many calories you must consume on a daily basis, to lose a specific amount of weight, in a specific amount of time. That number then becomes your calorie prescription, meaning that is the number of calories (or less) you must eat on a daily basis to lose weight and reach your goals. You take your amino acids daily as recommended, you keep a diet log of all the food you consume, you keep track of the calories for all food eaten in the diet log and you come in for a weigh-in once a week.

Most people eat 500-600 calories a day more than they think and this alone can add one pound of fat to your body in a week (3500 calories = 1 pound fat). Studies show that those that track their eating and caloric intake do much better losing weight.

Every weight loss patient must bring their diet log to each weigh-in. The purpose of the diet log is two-fold. First and foremost it allows us to see what you eat, when you eat and how much you eat. Second, after two weeks of reviewing your diet log, we can tweak your diet to help you eat healthier and time foods during the day when they might be more beneficial in controlling hunger and blood sugar swings.

I will teach you to count calories if you do not understand how to do so. I will teach you to read food labels that allow you to understand what is in the foods you eat and how to determine serving and portion sizes. You will learn when to eat, what to eat, and what not to eat. There are many other aspects of this program that will help you lose weight and for those very difficult cases, I use the help of a medical hypnotherapist, trained in medical cases, who can help you with other issues that prevent you from achieving success.

If you wish to know more about amino acid therapy, please call my office at (630) 351-4700.